S.Korea fines 3 German automakers for cheating emissions

PHOTO AFP SEOUL -- South Korea's antitrust regulator said on Thursday it would impose a fine of 42.3 billion won $33.48 million on three German automakers for colluding to rig emissions of its diesel cars using software.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission KFTC said in a statement that Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Audi were involved in collusion that reduced competition and restricted consumer choice.

The regulators said that Mercedes-Benz was fined 20.7 billion won, BMW 15.7 billion won and Audi 6 billion won, because it did not earn revenue relevant to the issue.

Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen and Audi were not immediately available for comment.

In the last year, Mercedes-Benz and its Korean unit were fined 20.2 billion won for false advertising about gas emissions of diesel passenger vehicles.

Volkswagen and BMW were fined by the European Commission in 2021 for colluding to curb the use of emissions cleaning technology they had developed.